


Playing Games

by stressedoutteenager



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: F/M, Yousana AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-20 04:24:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11913147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stressedoutteenager/pseuds/stressedoutteenager
Summary: In a game of Truth or Dare Sana ends up egging a random house. When the owner of the house catches her in the act and additionally is a police officer, Sana tries to talk her way out of it.





	1. Chapter 1

Sana should have known better.  
No, Sana knew better.  
She knew it was a bad idea bringing her friends, her brother and his friends together.   
She knew it wouldn't end well.

Now, she curses herself for not having done more to prevent all of them hanging out together.

Mikael had the brilliant idea of playing Truth or Dare.   
And for the most part it was all fun until it was Sana's turn for a Dare.   
It's not like Sana is afraid if dares. She's pretty good at doing whatever she is given as a dare and since especially her brother and his friends know that, they thought of something she might reject doing.

"You have to egg someone's house."

Sana narrows her eyes at Adam and then looks around the circle. They're all sitting at a park, on the grass, and just talking. And now playing this game for about an hour now.

"Do you have eggs here?", Eva asks, obviously amused by the thought of Sana egging a house.

While Adam and Elias look at each other with a frown, not having thought of that, another of the boys saves their asses.

"I do!", Mutta exclaims. And when he is met with confused looks he explains:" I went to the store for my mom, before meeting you all. I can just buy more later.", rummaging through his backpack. 

"Yes, Mutta!", Elias claps him on the shoulder to then turn around to grin at his little sister. Challenging her is one of his favorite things to do.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Sana looks unimpressed.

"Why would I egg some stranger’s house? That's mean.", Sana says.

"Because we dare you.", Adam grins. "Or is Ms. Sana Bakkoush backing down from a dare?"

"Oooh.", Mikael reacts and makes Chris and Vilde laugh out loud.

Then Noora and Eva give their input: "It's kinda fun. And if you only throw one or two it won't be that bad."

"Plus it's going to rain the whole rest of the week so you won't have to worry about the eggs being stuck on the facade of the house."

Sana sighs. She knows, if she doesn't do this, the boys (and the girls) will not let her live that down. Especially not her older brother Elias. Sana and him might have had a stupid argument that escalated before they left the house a couple of hours ago. So Sana knows exactly why he grins at her mischievously.   
As much as she loves her brother, they do get into verbal fights a lot. 

"Whose house?", Sana simply asks.   
She already feels bad about it. She never thought she would egg someone's house. Well, that happens when her friends get together with her brother and his friends. 

Elias has an awesome idea for that. He sits up straight and asks Noora for a number between 1 and 5. "Four"  
Then Mikael. "One"  
Then Chris. "Two"  
And finally Eva. "Five"

"Okay, so.. We'll walk up this street and turn right at the fourth junction. Turn left after one traffic light. Walk for two minutes, stop. And the fifth house from there on is the one Sana is going to egg."

While Sana just sits there, glaring at her brother who has the time of his life, her friends all seem to love this idea. 

So they all stand up and do as Elias said. 

At least the sun is setting. It won't be too obvious then. Sana knows she shouldn't do that. But she really doesn't want to be teased by her friends for the rest of the year just because she would've backed down from a dare. 

As soon as they stand in front of the house they randomly choose with the numbers, Mutta gives Sana two eggs. Then, all of her friends vanish. They run away, to the other side of the street and hide behind bushes to watch. 

Sana looks at them a bit weirded out and confused but just wants to get this over with. But first Sana thinks to herself. Where would the eggs make the least damage? 

Hoping she'll be forgiven for this, Sana throws the first egg after making sure nobody that lives there is at the windows or something. 

From the other side of the street she can hear one of the boys exclaim: "She really did it."   
Rolling her eyes Sana lifts her hand to throw the next one and get out of there as quickly as possible.   
Well, she doesn't get to throw it. 

"Hey!", someone shouts. 

Sana thinks it's one of her friends and turns around. But the person walking towards her is not one of the people that were or still are hiding behind the bushes.  
It's a woman wearing a hijab and a police uniform. Sana's initial reaction is pride, somehow. She's really happy to see a police officer wearing a hijab. 

But then panic ensues. 

Quickly, probably too fast, Sana hides the egg she is holding in the pocket of her jacket. Smiling sheepishly but trying to look like she didn't do anything she shouldn't have done, Sana tries to move away slowly.

"What were you just doing, dear?", the woman asks without a trace of sarcasm in that last part. She genuinely just wants to know.

"Eh..", Sana says, trying to look over the woman's head to see if her friends are still there.

"Anne! Let me help you wi...", both women hear a third voice.

The voice is coming from behind Sana and both her and the woman turn towards the source of the voice.   
It relieves Sana. She gets more time to think of a believable excuse as to why she was egging that house. That police officer’s house.

The interruption of Sana's most likely following interrogation finally comes to stand next to the women.

It's a guy with dark hair, fairly tall.   
He smiles at the woman, his mother, and turns his gaze towards Sana.

"What's going on?", he asks.

Sana is still so busy with trying to think of a good excuse that she doesn't really look at him.

The police officer says: "Well, this girl here threw something, I believe an egg, at our house. Right when I parked the car at the street."

She did? Sana didn't even realize that someone was parking their car.

"If you don't give me a good explanation I'll have to file a report for vandalism, since you have another egg in your pocket."

Then both of the strangers turn to Sana, with a questioning look.

Sana blurts out the first excuse she can think of, why someone would egg a house. She doesn't want a report to be filed. Not because of a stupid dare. And she can't say it was a dare, can she now?

"I was mad at him and didn't think about what I was doing.", Sana says quickly, pointing at the dark haired boy.

The woman takes a step towards Sana, and then looks back at her son and back at Sana again.

The boy, who is standing behind his mother, looks at Sana with the most confused face so Sana tries to convey to him to just play along please.

"Why were you mad at Yousef?", the police officer asks. She really seems to ask as a mother, not as a police officer.

When she looks at the boy again, Sana stands on her tiptoes and shakes her head at the boy. He's still looking at her.

Sana mouths a 'Please' and hopes he understands what she means.

Only now Sana realizes how attractive that boy is. It's the worst timing.

The police officer lady narrows her eyes at her son and when he doesn't answer, she looks at Sana again.

"It's... it's something between us...", Sana says, not sounding very convincing.

She hates this situation. She starts panicking but forces herself to not act on it in any way. Not now. But she'll definitely kill Adam and Elias in a bit, if she can go home later.

"Since you were egging my house too..", the woman says, ".. I think I should get to know too."

Sana opens her mouth to object but no words come out. What can she say that makes this less awkward and looking less bad?

"Mom, it's really just between us."

Sana's head snaps up and she tries to conceal her surprised look when Yousef's mother looks from him to her a few times. She looks at the two teenagers as if she's trying to figure out what they are referring to.

"Okay then. I'll let you off with a warning for now.", Sana hears the woman say.   
However, Sana's eyes are still on that boy, Yousef. When his mother is not looking he looks at Sana with wide eyes, as if he doesn't believe that he just said that. But Sana is grateful.

"Thank you! I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I just didn't really think.", Sana says hastily. Her relief is very obvious.

"But..", the woman says with a soft smile playing on her lips, her eyes trailing from her son to Sana. "... I want you two to sit down and talk over whatever your issue is. So something like this doesn't happen again."

"That's not necessary... I'm sorry. This won't happen again, I promise.", Sana tries to talk her way out of this. Just when she thought she got away.

Yousef and Sana look at each other with wide eyes, both not knowing what exactly to do.

Sana doesn't know him.

Yousef doesn't know her.

"No, I think it'd be wise.", the officer's voice is strict now. Sana imagines that's how she talks during her job.

"Mom.", Yousef interrupts but just a look shuts him up.

"What's your name, dear?", Sana is asked by her. Now she smiles softly again.

"Sana."

"Sana, I really think you two should settle this. Why don't you come over tomorrow afternoon and you'll solve this problem."


	2. Chapter 2

After a long time thinking about it, Sana presses send.  
She didn’t spend time looking for the right profile to then do nothing.

 

 **Sana Bakkoush:**  Hi, this is Sana. The girl that threw an egg at your house and kind of pulled you into my excuse. I just wanted to say sorry.

 **Yousef Acar** : Kind of? You really did. My mom's been trying to get the reason why you are mad at me out of me since you left.

A reason I don't have because that was the first time ever I saw you

 **Sana Bakkoush** : I'm honestly really sorry. It was part of a stupid game. That was the first excuse I could think of.

 **Yousef Acar** : You chose the wrong house to egg. Since my mom's a cop and all

 **Sana Bakkoush** : Yeah, blame my friends for that haha

But honestly. I'm sorry about that

I don't really have to come to your house tomorrow afternoon, right?

 **Yousef Acar** : My mother is pretty adamant to find out what I did to get you so mad

"When did you have time to get someone so angry at you?" - quoting my mom.

 **Sana Bakkoush** : I'm so sorry

You only have to hear all that because of a panicked lie I told

I'll fix it

-

"Hi.", Yousef says, as he opens the door. 

He can't believe he's in this situation right now. The girl that for some reason egged his house yesterday is back again.

Yousef wasn't prepared for the sight in front of him. Sana looks beautiful. Yesterday night he didn't really have the time to concentrate on how she looks, it was almost dark and he was confused as to why his mother was so interested in this stranger. 

He couldn't restrain himself from going through her pictures on Facebook but somehow he still wasn't prepared to see her and be overwhelmed.

Now, the girl is standing in front of him with a shy smile and he has to shake his head to clear his mind.

"Hi.", Sana answers. "I'm really sorry about all that."

"It's fine. What's done is done.", Yousef answers with a small smile of his own, "But a fair warning: My dad is still at work and it's my mom's day off. Well, and she won't like that you threw an egg at the house because of a game you were playing."

Sana gulps. She actually had planned on, or at least thought of, just telling Yousef's mother what really happened but standing here now, she's really not sure. 

Turns out Sana doesn't really need to decide about that. At least she doesn't if she doesn't go out of her way to do so.

As soon as Yousef's mother noticed that Sana arrived, she welcomed her and then said: "I just wanted you two to resolve whatever your problem is. I won't get involved more than that, I promise."

She had looked at Yousef with a look to say that she is indeed capable of that. He did try and make her believe that 'that issue', which he didn't elaborate on because he didn't want to lie more than necessary, was just between Sana and him and that she shouldn't get involved if that is possible for her.

Now Sana is sitting in a stranger's kitchen, the table filled with many really tasty-looking dishes and pastries, and has no idea what to say.

This is so awkward. She could kill Elias and Adam.

When the silence gets too much for the both of them, they start talking at the same time. Yousef is sitting on one side of the table, Sana directly across from him. 

Again, at the same time they stop talking and motion for the other to continue. Laughing, Yousef is the one to say something first.

"Go ahead.", he smiles at Sana and rests his hands on the table. 

Sana imitates him and answers with a sheepish smile: "I'm really sorry about all of this."

Yousef chuckles and shakes his head. "Sana, you can stop apologizing. It's fine. We just need to figure out how to get my mom off my back."

Sana does a double take at him saying her name. She always liked her name. Coming from him, she likes it even more. Smiling to herself Sana nods. 

"So, then let's do that."

 -

This should be awkward. Unbearably awkward. Two strangers sitting at a table, discussing how to be convincing at acting like they have some kind of history. When they've never seen each other before the previous day.

Somehow, it's not. Not at all.

At first Sana looks at the task at hand like a project for school. Getting the basics out of the way is a good start.

"So when did we meet?", Sana asks, looking at Yousef.

He narrows his eyes at her in confusion and is about to say 'Yesterday' when he understands how Sana means that.

He leans forward in his seat and explains: "Since we moved here just two months ago I'd say like.. a month?"

That surprises Sana. Her eyebrows shoot up and she tilts her head slightly.

"You're new in the city?", she asks.

Yousef wonders if that's genuine interest or if she's just asking because it would make it easier to convince his mother that there was something they could have fought about.   
Either way, he likes the little smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah, we were living in a small town a few hours from Oslo but my dad got relocated for his job so here we are."

Sana nods along while listening. She doesn't exactly know why but she had thought that they'd be living here their whole lives like Sana and her family do. She just assumed it and this new information changes the picture of Yousef in her mind that had grown steadily since she first saw him yesterday evening.

"Did you settle in okay?", Sana asks, "I've never moved into another city so I can't imagine how difficult that must have been."

Yousef smiles. Sana has her eyebrows furrowed, her hands folded together on the table and her back straight. She seems really concerned and she doesn't even know him.

With a smile Yousef shrugs: "It's fine. It's not ideal of course. But I would've moved to go to Uni anyway. And I've actually met a few guys at the gym. They seemed cool.", then Yousef's smile grows just a tiny bit but Sana notices and starts smiling herself, "And then there's this girl I met about a month ago... and all I know about her is her name."

He makes Sana laugh after she rolls her eyes at him. He joins in on the laughter and the last tiny bit of uncomfortability vanishes into thin air.

Once they stop laughing they get back to their initial plan.

It doesn't take long. 

 -

Sana and Yousef know each other for a month.   
They bumped into each other at the store. Got talking and continued talking on social media.  
Then they were supposed to meet up but Yousef didn't show up because he wrote down the wrong day. 

The reason why he didn't show up was Yousef's idea. He said that something like that would really happen to him. 

Now that both of them know the truth the conflict is resolved and they'll just stay friends. 

That is the story Sana and Yousef are going to tell if his mother asks. 

-

She said she wouldn't get involved further but after her son and Sana have been sitting in her kitchen for almost 45 minutes without once coming out of there, Yousef's mother can't help herself. Slowly and silently she goes to the kitchen door and opens it just a tiny bit. 

The sight in front of her makes Mrs. Acar smile.   
Her son and the girl that was so mad at him that she even egged his house are still sitting at the table but now, laughing loudly. 

Sana is holding her stomach, probably from laughing so much.   
Yousef looks similar. His eyes are trained on the girl sitting across from him. 

They're both trying to calm down but once they almost manage, they look at each other and burst out laughing again. 

Even though Mrs. Acar doesn't know why they are laughing this much she feels like laughing with them. She's really happy that they're having such a good time. 

"I can't believe you did that!", Sana says, trying to calm down. 

Mrs. Acar watches how Yousef shrugs but slightly turns red. She smiles at that. He seems to like that girl. 

"I didn't plan on doing that...", Yousef says with a small smile.

Sana laughs and shakes her head, leaning forward in her seat. "But you did!"

And that's when Mrs. Acar decides she really shouldn't be listening. She promised her son to not get involved more. Well, she really isn't getting involved... technically. But still, she shouldn't.

 -

Sana didn't realize how long she has been sitting at that table with Yousef sitting across from her until her phone rings. It's one of her friends, asking why she isn't at Chris' already. They had planned on having a Disney-movie marathon. 

Only then does Sana notice that it has gotten rather late. So she tells Yousef. 

His face falls a little, or Sana just imagines that. But he nods and stands up with her. He motions for her to lead the way and she does.   
While walking out of the kitchen, when he can't see her face, she smiles. 

How was this such a fun afternoon? She expected it to be weird as hell. It should have been. But it wasn't.

He's really funny. And he has a nice way of telling stories.   
Apparently he was in drama club, convinced by his friend but ending up enjoying it.   
Apparently he also played football for a long time until he found out he liked dancing a lot more.   
Apparently he's pretty clumsy. One particular story had Sana almost crying of laughter. 

Yousef shakes his head at this whole afternoon. How was this not uncomfortable at all? He had so much fun with Sana. Just talking.

She's really clever. And she's really easy to listen to.  
Apparently she is in kosegruppa, because of her friends being part of it but ending up enjoying it.  
Apparently she's playing basketball and has always loved doing that.  
Apparently she can be very sarcastic but it only makes Yousef like her humour even more.

Putting on her coat and her shoes, Sana turns back around to Yousef. He has his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and just stands there smiling at her. 

His mother didn't once join them so they didn't have to explain anything. So does this mean goodbye? They don't really have a reason to keep talking now. 

Leaning a bit closer, Sana whispers: "Thank you for playing along."

"No worries.", Yousef answers with a smile. 

Sana smiles back at Yousef notices the dimples he grew to really like over the past time they spent talking in his kitchen. 

After standing there, just smiling at each other, Sana opens the door and turns around to look at Yousef once again. 

"Thanks again. See you."

"Bye, Sana."

-

Sana sighs when the door closes behind her. She sighs and tries to shake that feeling she got after hearing the door fall into its lock. It was more fun than expected but that's it. The stupid mess she got into because of a stupid game she was playing is resolved. She should be happy. 

Shaking her head and taking her headphones out of her pocket, Sana starts walking down the driveway. 

"Sana, wait!", she hears right before she is about to press play on her playlist. 

Quickly she turns around, confused to see Yousef running up to her. Without a coat but holding something in his hands. She didn't even leave the driveway yet. She takes off her earphones as he stops in front of her. 

Her eyes fall down onto the Tupperware-box in his hands. Smiling, but still confused, she looks up at Yousef. 

He smiles at her cutely and shrugs.   
"My mom said I should've offered you some of the dessert to take home. So she quickly packed this for you."

Yousef holds it out to her. She takes it reluctantly. The food Yousef's mother had prepared was delicious and she's not against the idea of eating more of it. 

"Tell your mom is said thank you.", Sana finally says, smiling at Yousef. 

He nods, but neither of the two makes a move to walk away. All they do is stand there and smile at each other. Neither of them wants this part of their day to end, even if they don't realize it. 

Only when Sana's phone starts ringing one more time, Eva's name flashing on the screen, Sana takes a slow step back, smiling at Yousef one last time and saying Goodbye. 


	3. Chapter 3

"Yeah, sure. I can do that.", Sana says, holding her phone to her ear.

She went on a run but she barely ran 10 minutes when she got a call from her brother.

"Sis, but can you please get salty chips?", Elias says from the other end of the line.

Sana just listens as Elias is being talked to. His friends are probably over at the Bakkoush house.

"Oh, and Mutta wants chilli chips.", he adds.

Sana just makes an agreeing sound. There's a small grocery store near her house she'll walk past so it's not a detour.

"If you want to!", Sana can hear Mutta shout from somewhere close to Elias probably.

Hanging up after reassuring them that she'll get them their snacks on her way back home, Sana starts running again.

Basketball practice is fun and exhausting but on some days Sana needs some more exercise, usually just to get her head clear and sort her thoughts.

She used to run the same route over and over again but lately she just runs and sees where her feet take her.

Having Kendrick Lamar playing through her Earphones motivates her a little more and only after running for half an hour Sana notices that she's so far from home. It's okay, she knows where she is but she should've paid attention where she's going.

That's why she decides to make her way home now. This time actively trying to take the shortest route.

Since Sana has music playing though her earphones, she almost doesn't hear that someone is calling out her name as she arrives at the grocery store near her house. Just almost.

Taking one earphone off, Sana looks around and in a group of guys that she knows, one of them looks at Sana, and says:"Hi, Sana. What's up?"

Sana forces a smile on her face, and just nods to show that she saw and heard him. Just because Chris had a thing with Eva doesn't mean that Sana needs to interact with him any more than necessary. Especially not when she's in the midst of some guys from his old bus-crew.

Sana decides to just keep walking, into the grocery store, when her name is called once more. It's almost not audible because of the loud laughter of the group of boys standing in front of the store.

The plan was to only look over her shoulder to see who it is and then keep walking. Well, the plan gets cancelled as soon as Sana sees who it is.

"You know Sana?", Chris asks Yousef who nods and walks past him with his eyes trained on Sana, and just her.

"Yeah. You go, I'll catch up with you.", Yousef responds to Chris. He nods when he sees that the rest of the guys are already leaving.

Yousef goes to stand in front of Sana and they look as Chris joins the rest of the guys.

Finally Sana turns her gaze to the tall, dark-haired guy whose house she had egged not long ago. 

When Yousef's eyes land on Sana, a smile finds its way onto his lips immediately.

Sana presses her lips together but as soon as he smiles, she smiles too.

"Hi.", they say at the same time and chuckle at that.

"So.. how's it going?", Yousef asks when neither of them say anything for a few seconds, just standing in front of the store, looking at each other.

Sana's lips quirk up a little. "Not much. Just went on a run. And you?", Sana looks down the road the boys Yousef was with walked down. Pointing at the direction, Sana asks: "Were those the guys you met at the gym?"

Yousef finds himself smiling at first. She remembers that tiny thing he had told her about. But that smile vanishes not soon after, he realizes that Sana's tone didn't necessarily sound very... fond of them. Which Yousef can totally understand.

Nodding Yousef answers: "Yeah, they are. You know them?"

Yousef already knows the answer to that, Chris wouldn't have known her name if they didn't know each other. So he doesn't really know why he asked that. Still, Sana answers.

Raising her eyebrows as if to say 'Yeah, kind of', she says: "They were in third year when I started first year at Nissen."

Yousef nods again, now sure that Sana really doesn't think highly of them. Her facial expressions and the tone of her voice tell all. That makes him almost laugh.

"Don't you..", Sana can't believe she'll say this now, for more than just an obvious reason ,"Don't you want to catch up with them."

She nods into the direction they disappeared to. She doesn't want to keep Yousef making friends. He's new in the city and Sana might have her opinions but if he's friends with them he just is.

Yousef looks in the same direction and turns back to Sana, shaking his head with a knowing smirk.

"It's fine.", Yousef's chuckle and the raised eyebrows tell Sana that he's not to keen on following them.

"Don't like them?"

"No, yeah. Some of them are cool. But.. I don't know. Didn't feel comfortable in that group.", Yousef answers with a shrug.

His eyes wander over Sana's face, which is bare of any make up as far as he can tell.

"What are you up to now? After your run? ... I don't want to keep you from doing whatever you had planned.", Yousef asks. It's not exactly what he wanted to say but he chickened out the last second.

He hasn't seen Sana in about a week. He thought of messaging her over Facebook. Asking her if she wants to hang out. She's the only one he's met so far in this city that he wouldn't mind spending his whole day with. He's meet people here and there but somehow he didn't find real friends yet.

"Oh, it's fine. I'm just picking up some things from the store for my brother and his friends since the store was on my way back home.", Sana explains.

She tries to not let herself be obvious about being disappointed about where his question went. He could've asked something else, especially after cancelling his plans with the former-Penetrators. But maybe he just didn't want to.

Yousef's eyes shot up in interest.   
"You live nearby?"

Sana nods. "Down the road.", she plays with her phone in her hands and looks back up again to Yousef when she remembers something.  
"Hey, I still have your Tupperware-box. By the way, my friends loved the dessert your mom gave me."

"She'll be happy to hear that.", Yousef says, smiling at her.

His eyes travel over her face and when she smiles, and he notices those dimples again, he smiles even wider.

Sana balances on the heels of her shoes, looking to the entrance of the store, back on her phone and then to Yousef.

"If..", Sana says and then bites her lip. She presses her lips together and stops herself from saying what she wanted to say. That would be top forward. Technically, she doesn't know Yousef.

Well, Yousef seems to not like that idea of her starting the sentence and then stopping herself.   
He furrows his eyebrows at her and smirks, hoping that she'll say something he'll definitely like to hear.

"If... if what?"

Sana rolls her eyes at his smirk but then sighs and not directly looking at him, she says what she wanted to.

"If you cancelled your plans with ... them", Sana points to where the boys he had been with walked into, ".. and have some time I could give you back your container."

Only when Yousef doesn't say anything for a few seconds Sana looks at him directly.

She sees him smiling and the few times Sana saw him he never looked so good.

"Yeah, sounds good."

-

Sana gets all the stuff she needs from the store and they make their way towards Sana's house.

They walk next to each other. Sometimes with a step between them. Sometimes with their shoulders brushing against each other.

They fall into a comfortable silence at first, both shyly looking at the other every other second.   
Then they start talking, about nothing in particular but it feels like it's the best conversation Sana has ever had.

"No, no. You can't tell me you never watched Brooklyn 99!", Sana exclaims shocked. "Okay, I admit that I only watched it because my brother made me but that's such a good show. You need to watch it sometime."

"I'll trust you on that and tell you how I liked it.", Yousef answers.

He loves how Sana's eyes shine when she talks about things she likes. He remembers the look on her face when she had told him about her basketball team not that long ago. It's something different, something that looks very good on her.   
But what doesn't?  
Even after a pretty long run, as far as Yousef can tell, she looks beautiful.

"What?", Sana asks, laughing lightly and narrowing her eyes as Yousef.

He didn't realize he was lost in thoughts for longer than it was appropriate.

Sana sees how he blushes slightly and smiles at that.

Not long after that, they stop walking and Yousef looks around him.   
With a questioning look he turns back to Sana and she nods.

"Yeah, we're here." She thinks for a moment. "I'll go get your container."

Still, she hesitates a moment but he just nods with a smile. He looks after her when she runs towards the door and vanishes into the house.

-

Should she have invited him inside? She barely knows him. Yes, she was at his house but that was only because she had such a bad conscience after lying and getting him into the lie as well.

Finding some of the carrot cake her mother had baked just this morning Sana puts some into Yousef's container and turns back around and goes to put on her shoes to go outside again. Where he is.

Or should be.

However, while Sana is putting on her shoes, the door opens and in come Elias and Mikael.

Weren't they home? When she came in she heard the boys in the living room.

Apparently her confusion is very evident on her face because Elias laughs first and then explains: "You took so long that Mikael and I went out to get snacks." Mikael holds up a bag he's carrying.

"And on our way back we found out why you took so long.", Mikael says and right in that moment a third person walks through the door.

"Yousef?"

Elias smiles mischievously and looks from Yousef who smiles shyly to Sana.   
"It was awfully impolite of you to not invite him in, Sana.", Elias shoots Mikael and knowing look before grinning at Sana.

She doesn't really know what to do or say. She didn't think Yousef would he up her right now.

"Oh, it's really fine..", Yousef comments with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He looks kind of uncomfortable, kind of amused.

Sana's head snaps towards him, and she's met with a small smile.

The two boys that were in the living room, which Sana mistook for four boys, make themselves heard again.

"Guys, can you talk about whatever you're talking about when I have my snacks?"

Sana knows that it's Adam's voice without turning around and she doesn't know if this could get any more awkward.

"Hey! Isn't that the guy whose house you egged?!"

Of course Sana was wrong. She shuts her eyes and cringes. How much more embarrassing can this get? No, she shouldn't even be asking that.

Yousef slightly lifts his hand: "Yeah, that would be me."

Sana looks at him again, her hands enclosing the container filled with carrot cake, the hall between the living room and the door filled with five guys making her blush more and more.

"Okay. Let's all just go to the living room and then we'll talk about how Sana got caught in a dare.", Elias says, obviously proud of himself.

Sana could kill him then and there.   
"Yeah, whose idea was that anyway, right?", Sana says, stating down her brother.

He just shrugs, takes his shoes off and walks to the living room. Followed by his friends.

That only leaves Sana and Yousef, on different sides of the hall.

"So..", Yousef says, drawing out the o.

The two of them are looking at each other. Both unsure of what to say. This is not what either of them imagined to happen when they walked here together from the store.

"Do you want me to leave?", Yousef asks.

Sana furrows her eyebrows, not having expected this question.

"Do you want to stay?", Sana asks.

Yousef's eyes wander over to where the boys walked to.   
They saw him standing in front of the house, asking if everything is fine or if he needs directions or anything. When he told them that he's waiting for Sana to bring him something of his, both boys immediately knew what he was referring to and told him that he could just come in. They insisted. And well, Yousef didn't put up a fight because they seemed nice. And if Sana is friends with them, or even related to one of them, they can't be that bad.

So he answers: "If you don't mind."

-

Sana just went to change her clothes. That only took two minutes. How is it possible for Yousef to be integrated in Elias' friend group so quickly?

When Sana stands at the living room door, looking at them discuss about some TV show, it looks like the five of them have always been friends. Yousef doesn't look out of place at all.

He's the first one to notice her. His gaze lingers on her when Mutta is telling him something.

"Elias, where's mom?", Sana asks, making all of them look at her.

"At aunt Fatima's.", he answers and adds, "Now come and join us. This friend of yours has never watched Brooklyn 99 so we're going to change that."

Sana steps into the room but is unsure of where to sit. Adam and Mikael pretty much occupy the whole couch. Elias is sitting on one of the arm chairs, Yousef on a chair that actually belongs in the kitchen and Mutta is sitting on the floor, leaned on the couch.   
Sana decides to join Mutta and waits as Elias deals with the TV.

This is weird. Seeing Yousef in her home. He looks around the room the same way Sana does.

'Accidentally' their eyes meet and they both smile.

Sana didn't want him to leave anyway but that he's actually sitting just a few meters away, in her living room is... good.

She wouldn't have thought that this would happen but after she had left his house a couple of days ago, she kept thinking of him. About the long conversation they had in his kitchen. She even considered messaging him over Facebook but decided against it in the last minute.

Mutta leans over to Sana and with a smile asks: "So, the guy whose house you egged is sitting in your living room.", he states and then raises his eyebrows in a questioning manner, "How?"

Sana laughs at that and just shrugs.   
"Bumped into him at the store."

Mutta narrows his eyes at her, disbelieving and opens his mouth to say something more when Elias announces that he'll press play now. Before he does that he sends a look towards his little sister and then a wary look towards Yousef.

All four of the boys knew about Yousef's being the house that became victim to Sana's dare. It's not that dramatic, it was one egg, but that's exactly how Adam had phrased it when Elias saw Sana look him up on Facebook. And of course his friends joined in on the search. Meaning that they hovered over her shoulder until she found the right profile.

Yousef somehow can't take his eyes off of her. Well, she's sitting next to that other guy who introduced himself as Mutta. He seems really friendly but he has made Sana laugh twice in the short period of time she's been sitting next to him.

When Elias announces they'll start with the first episode, Yousef directs his attention to the TV. Sana told him it's one of her favorite shows so this might tell him more about her, and he might just end up liking a good show.

Yousef enjoys the show, a lot. Still, his eyes keep wandering over to Sana. Her eyes crinkle when she laughs; her dimples appear even when she tries to hide her amusement.

And once in a while, Sana looks at him at the same time. Their eyes meet, they smile shyly, and look towards the TV again.

-

After three episodes Yousef tells the group of friends that he should get going. Which is harder than he thought it would be to say to a group of strangers. But he feels comfortable around them. More than the other group of guys he met earlier today.

"You sure? We're planning on going out later if you want to join.", Elias is the first one to react.

Yousef smiles at that offer and nods.   
"Yeah, I should. But thanks."

"Sure. Then just hit us up if you're up to hanging out.", Elias says with a grin.

The other boys nod along and give agreeing comments.

Sana watches the scene in front of her and can't help but smile widely.  
When Yousef had told her that he didn't find actual friends yet after he moved, he sounded pretty sad about it. Which is understandable. And as annoying as these four guys can be, they're great people.

Yousef stands up, says his goodbyes but Sana also stands up and follows him to the door. While he puts on his shoes, Sana stands there, leaned on the wall with her arms crossed over her chest.

Standing up, Yousef smiles but doesn't know what to say. He could just say goodbye. But he doesn't want to.

"So...", he says, looking around until his gaze lands on her, "This was fun."

Nodding she agrees.

"Well,.. thank you. I really should go now.", Yousef continues.

"Okay.", Sana says. She looks towards the living room and says: "The guys really seem to like you. I can send you Elias' number if you want to hang out with them sometime."

With his hands in his jeans pocket Yousef nods, smiling gratefully.

A few silent seconds pass and then Yousef opens the door. Just as he is about to step out Sana speaks up.

"Wait! We forgot something.", with that Sana runs to the kitchen and comes back with something in her hands.

Yousef chuckles at the box in her hand. That was the reason why he came here in the first place.

Sana hands it over.

"Thank you.", Yousef says.

"No problem. My mom made carrot cake. I hope you like it."  
Sana knows she's speaking too quickly. She's kind of nervous. Is it weird that she doesn't want him to leave yet?

"I'm sure I will.", Yousef says, slowly stepping over the threshold.   
"Bye, Sana."

She just nods at him, seeing him make his way to the stairs. Sana slowly closes the door, slightly unwillingly.

"Sana, wait!", she hears and sees his foot between the door, stopping her from closing it completely.

Chuckling to herself, Sana opens the door again. She tries to control her smile by pressing her lips together.

Yousef looks into Sana's eyes, slightly out of breath, and takes a deep breath.

"Sana..  would you.. I ... would you like to go out sometime?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you up for something sporty?"

When Sana read that message she wasn't really sure what Yousef meant. This was the whole message and they had not talked after he left her house two days ago.

Only after a few moments Sana realizes he means the date.

He had asked her out. On a date. And she had said yes.

It would be a lie if she said that she didn't keep thinking about it in the past two days.

"Yes, always."

That was Sana's answer. She didn't mind doing sports and she's sure he doesn't mean anything too exhausting.  
But the thought that he's planning something and thinking of something that would make the whole first date thing less awkward makes Sana smile. 

-

Yousef picked Sana up from her house, which almost made Sana faint because she was really nervous. She's not one to get nervous too often. But her family wasn't home to see her in that nervous mess and she somehow managed to recollect herself before opening the door for Yousef.

"So you're not telling me where we're going?", Sana asks, looking at Yousef.

He just smirks and shakes his hand. He has his hands in the pockets of his jacket and turns his head to Sana.

"It's a surprise."

Sana rolls her eyes at that but can't stop smiling.

"But I can guess?", she asks and raises her eyebrows in a questioning manner.

She looks so cute that Yousef has trouble concentrating on where he is going. She's wearing a light blue hijab and it might be his new favorite color.   
"Sure. If you want to."

That makes Sana start theorizing immediately. Yousef just hopes he didn't hype it up too much. He wouldn't want her to be disappointed.    
"Okay, I know we're not just going to sit around which is great. So..", Sana says and makes Yousef grin, not even noticing that she does. He's glad she likes the idea of doing something active.

But then she confuses him when her eyes widen and she stops walking. Turning to Yousef with her wide eyes she asks: “Oh my God, don't tell me you'll make me dance?"

At that Yousef doubles over with laughter. She looks petrified.

"What makes you think that?", he manages to ask when he calms down a little.

Sana narrows her eyes at him, wondering why he is so amused by that.

Shrugging, she answers: "I know that you love dancing and I don't know..  just made the connection."

They keep walking but Yousef's eyes are trained on the way they're going. Sana waits a few seconds. Then a few more. Finally she can't wait any more.

"You're not going to answer me?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I did.", Yousef smiles to himself.   
He doesn't know how he is being so ... smooth. Before he arrived at her house he was a mess. Actually, it took him about seven minutes to ring the doorbell. Maybe the adrenaline of being so excited helps.   
"But it's something I enjoy and hope you do too."

-

"We're playing basketball?", Sana beams at Yousef as soon as they arrive at the basketball court and Yousef stops walking.

Her smile makes him smile and he nods.

"Yeah. But not just basketball.", he says.

Sana cocks her head slightly and waits for him to continue.

Yousef takes a few steps, leading Sana's eyes to a picnic basket that's at the edge of the court. Behind the basket are a football and a basketball. Sana hadn't seen those before. 

Yousef brought all the stuff here before he went to pick Sana up. A family friend that lives nearby had an eye on his stuff while Yousef was gone. 

With one ball in each hand Yousef smiles at Sana while explaining.   
"Since you say you're so good at basketball, and I said I'm pretty good at football, I thought we could play both. Just so it's fair to both of us."

Sana loves this idea and has to try really hard not to grin too much. She didn't think he would put this much thought into a first date. But here he is, exceeding all of her expectations. 

"And...", Yousef continues, "If we're honest, we barely know each other. So I thought we could use these games to change that. Whenever you score, you get to ask me anything you want, and the other way round."

He realizes that he's speaking very, very fast. So does Sana. She wonders if he is nervous. As nervous as she is. But the whole way here and up until now he seemed so relaxed. 

"Of course only if you want to and if you hate that idea, we can totally do something else. It's up to you, really."  
Sana didn't think he could get any cuter. Out of nowhere he started to blush and he talked even faster than before. 

Holding out her hands and gesturing for Yousef to throw her a ball, she nods smilingly and answers: "That's a great idea." 

Yousef is relieved that she didn't hate this. He throws her the football which she catches effortlessly. 

"But..", Sana continues, taking a step closer and making Yousef frown in concern, "Is your ego strong enough to be beaten in both sports?"

Sana's confident smirk, the way she steps closer to him with the football under her arm makes Yousef wonder. Wonder how the hell he got the courage to ask her out. It's not like him to ask someone out on the spot. Like he did a couple of days ago. Just... the thought of not seeing Sana anymore and not having an excuse to see her was enough to do that.

"Oh, confident, are we? Let's go.", Yousef answers, dribbling the basketball and taking a step closer to Sana. 

-

"Hey! That was cheating.", Yousef exclaims and narrows his eyes at Sana, still smiling. That smile hasn't left his face the whole time. 

"No, we didn't set any rules and technically, I'm the goalkeeper and every other player at the same time.", Sana answers, trying to sound as serious as she can. 

She had caught the football in her arms ... many meters in front of the makeshift goals. Yousef chuckles but raises his eyebrows at her and walks over to her. 

"I thought the rules of football are clear.", he's standing just two steps away from her now. He doesn't look anywhere but at Sana. 

Her eyes wander over his face for a second and then she pushes the ball against his chest, asking him in a challenging way: "Can I ask my question now?"  
With a last grin she takes two steps backwards and settles in the middle of her 'goal', 

"Only because you are so cute.", Yousef whispers, Sana already out of hear-range. He looks at her and nods. 

"Hmm..", Sana ponders what to ask him, then she knows and looks at him. "As a child, what did you want to be when you grow up?"

Somehow Yousef finds himself chuckling at this. She could have asked anything, but she chose this. It's very cute but there is real interest in her facial expression. 

Kicking the ball up and down a bit, he answers: "For a while I wanted to be a lawyer like my dad. Then a police officer. And then a teacher. Which is still my goal."

"Aww, you wanted to do what your parents are doing before you decided for yourself."

Yousef drops the ball and covers his face with his hands for a moment. He gets awkward when she's being so cute. 

-

"Wow.", Yousef says, shocked at how he got the ball in the basket from such a distance. Needless to say Sana is a hell lot better at basketball than he is. 

Her eyes following the ball bounce back towards Yousef after he did a 3-pointer, Sana smirks. Why is she so happy that he scored? He's not horrible at basketball but he's not great either. Well, it balances the whole thing out. She wasn't horrible at football either but he was better.

"So, what's your next question?", Sana asks.

Sana almost sits down on the basketball court but Yousef points to the picnic blanket he had brought, with things to eat, as well. Without having to say it, both of them take one of the balls and go to sit down.

"Hm..", Yousef mumbles and more clearly says, "What should I ask Sana Bakkoush now?", while taking out all the things he had brought out of the basket. 

They've been playing for some time now and many questions have been asked and answered. Neither of them have noticed how fast the time passed. 

"You really didn't have to do so much.", Sana points at the things he sprawled out on the blanket. All of it between him and Sana. 

His head snaps up to her and he shakes his head with a look, as if to say 'Of course'. But he just finally settles and asks his question. 

"What's one thing you want to do in the next year?"

This question makes Sana thinks more than she thought she would. Things like graduating High School, getting into the university she wants to attend and going on more trips are the first things she thinks of. But the answer she feels comfortable enough to share with Yousef, who she only knows for a few days, is something she would usually not tell a stranger. 

"Be a good person."

Yousef sees how Sana has this look on her face, she's really thinking about it and she really seems to mean the answers. When she looks at him and smiles shyly he knows not to ask further and he's completely fine with it. 

-

After eating a lot, so much that Sana can barely sit because her stomach is so full, they lay down on the picnic blanket. 

Both on far ends of the blanket. 

The containers for the food and the cups in the middle, separating them. 

For a while they just lay there, looking at the sky, and pointing out different clouds. 

"This one looks like a rabbit."

"This one kind of looks like Shrek."

"Shrek?"

"Yes, Shrek. You know, the green ogre?"

"Yousef, I know what Shrek is. But how do you see him in that cloud."

Sana starts laughing and Yousef is quick to join her. 

Sana feels at peace. She didn't think she could feel so comfortable around someone she barely knows. Well, she got to know him better today, that's clear.

They fall into silence, both of them looking up at the sky, seeing it changing colour, slowly.

Yousef is happy. It all worked out better than he thought it would. He is prone to embarrass himself. Especially around pretty girls like Sana. But even if that happened, it was fine. He felt comfortable around her. 

Sana is the one to break the silence. 

 Sana turns to Yousef: "We need to quit playing games if ..", and then she quickly shuts up, not having thought it out much. 

Yousef waits, wanting to ask  _if what?_  but he doesn't push. Even though he has no idea what she's talking about. Playing Games as in basketball and football? The part about the questions?  He turns back to the sky and lets it go.

Sana turns her head to Yousef again, both still laying on either side of the blanket. Yousef sees the movement from the corner of his eye and turns to look at her, too. Sana shows him a tiny smile which he answers with one of his own. Yousef expects her to say something, maybe finish her sentence but when she doesn't they both look up at the sky again. 

Like that, neither of them looking at the other, hands resting on her stomach, Sana finishes her sentence. 

"... if we're going to repeat this some time?"

Yousef quickly glances at Sana, sees her looking up at the sky and does the same. Sana knows he looked; she glances over to him and takes a deep breath. She didn’t want to be this straight forward but she means it. She enjoyed the day they spent together and hopes this happens again.

"I mean, about telling your mom that we didn't know each other before.", Sana clarifies. If this should happen again, them hanging out, no matter as friends or more, she can't lie to his mother.

Yousef is happy that Sana said what she said. He can barely contain his smile. 

At first, when she said that they need to quit playing games he thought she would break off the smallest chance of them hanging out more, as ... something more than friends. Then she continued and he almost burst into a loud happy exclamation. 

 Sana sighs and rather mumbles: "She might not like me after that but... yeah.."  

Yousef shakes his head, eyebrows deeply furrowed. He doesn't want Sana to think that, it's not the truth anyway. 

"Don't worry, that won't change her opinion of you."

His soft voice makes Sana smile but she quickly sits up and looks down on Yousef.

"Yeah? What's her opinion? She has one on me?"

Yousef nods, as best as possible laying there, "She does. She'll tell you yourself the next time you see her. But it's nothing bad, not at all."

Sana opens her mouth to ask more but she doesn't get to. Her phone starts vibrating and the call for prayer starts sounding from it. Just seconds later she hears the same thing from Yousef's phone. 

They both shuffle for their phones, listen to it for a while and then stop it. Sana takes a deep breath to collect her thoughts and wants to say something but Yousef beats her to it. 

"There is a mosque just around the corner if you want to pray."

Together they pack up the things into the basket, each take one ball and make their way to the mosque. They leave their stuff and part ways to go perform wudu.

-

Sana and Yousef take a different way back home. It's a little longer but it was as if they silently agreed on taking a longer way, to spend a bit more time together. 

They walk past Yousef's house. 

Sana only realizes that when they are almost at the end of the street. She stops and looks at Yousef, who didn't say anything about it. 

"Hey, you shouldn't walk all the way to my house to walk back here.", Sana says.

Yousef shakes his head and looks at her as if this is the weirdest thing she ever said.

"No, I want to. It's fine really."

Sana rolls her eyes but chuckles. "Yousef, it's okay. I can walk home just fine."

Yousef nods. "I know you can." 

But that doesn't mean he won't walk her home. Sana also knows that. She sighs and nods.

"Okay then. But at least put all this stuff in the driveway or so, so you don't have to carry it all."

Yousef agrees with this. He loves how Sana rolls her eyes but can't keep that smile off her face.   
They walk up the drive-way and set the basket and the balls down at the door. Yousef said it should be fine and when they turn around to leave the door gets opened. 

That makes Sana and Yousef turn around again. 

In front of them is Yousef's mother. Instinctively Sana and Yousef look at each other. They both remember the conversation they had earlier, about not lying to his mother anymore. 

Yousef doesn't know why he is so nervous about his mother seeing him with Sana. His mother knew that he would be going out with Sana. She helped prepare some of the food. Maybe it's because he has the feeling that Sana and him are on the same page. About hanging out again, soon. And this means talking to his mother. 

The look on Sana's face when she looks from Yousef's mother back to him tells him one thing, she'll do it now.

"Hello, Mrs. Acar."

She smiles back at Sana and lets her gaze wander over to her son and back to the girl standing next to him. 

"Hello, Sana. Did you have fun today?"

Sana nods instantly, which makes both Acars at the door smile. 

"Mrs. Acar, do you maybe have a minute. I think, I need to tell you something."

Sana holds her breath. So does Yousef. They glance at each other for a second but then avert their eyes, looking at the ground shyly. Every second of Mrs. Acar not answering makes Sana loose a little bit of courage.

"Do you want to tell me that you two didn't know each other before you threw an egg at my house?", Mrs. Acar sounds amused, nothing else. 

When Sana and Yousef's head snaps up so quickly and both of them look at the woman in front of them with wide eyes, at each other and back at Yousef's mother, she has to put a lot of effort into not bursting out laughing. Kids. 

She crosses her arms over her chest and watches as the teenagers in front of her fumbles to find words. Sana is the first one that does. 

"Yes... But Mrs. Acar I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have lied. It was a very stupid dare and I didn't want to back down from it and when you came I panicked and didn't know what to do. And I know those are just excuses, not a justification. I'm really sorry."

Sana rambles, she speaks fast. 

Yousef doesn't really know what to say. He never lies, usually. Being caught in one like this is very foreign to him. 

Mrs. Acar smiles softly and shakes her head.   
"Sana, it's okay. I don't appreciate the egg thrown at my house but what I appreciate is you telling me the truth.", the tone of her voice is so soft that Sana finally looks up at her. She smiles slightly, which Yousef's mother imitates.   
"Plus, you two are horrible liars. It was pretty obvious."

"I'm honestly very sorry.", Sana says once more, looking down on the ground. 

"Sana, dear. It's okay. You came forward and told me the truth when you thought you got away with it. That's something not many people would do.", Mrs. Acar smiles at Sana. 

Then she turns to her son and tells him: "If you want to keep Sana company on her way home, you should get going."

Seconds later Sana and Yousef stand alone in front of the door. They look at each other with wide eyes but quickly burst into laughter. 

His mother knew all along. Sana knows from the look Yousef had on his face earlier that he had no idea. Neither did Sana, obviously. 

Slowly, they make their way out of the drive-way and start walking. 

"Let's play a game.", Sana suggests with a grin. She walks a step faster and continues walking backwards in front of Yousef.

Yousef tilts his head slightly and chuckles. "I though we're done playing games."

Sana shakes her head quickly. "No, no. There are still plenty of games I can beat you at."

"Wow, Sana. Are you still bitter that I won at football?" Yousef feels too much joy because of this.

Playfully glaring at him, Sana shrugs. "I'm not bitter. I'm just competitive."

Smiling at each other when they stop in front of Sana's house, they just look at each other for a few moments. The conversation they were having almost forgotten. 

"I think there will be plenty of time for us to compete in different games.", Yousef says, knowing that Sana knows what he means.

"Yeah, there will be a lot of time for us to be playing games."


End file.
